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Digest

Jun 12, 2012 - The Associated Press

Assistant gets UWPD post

LARAMIE -- A veteran member of the University of Wyoming Police Department has been promoted to chief of ...

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Assistant gets UWPD post
LARAMIE -- A veteran member of the University of Wyoming Police Department has been promoted to chief of police.
Mike Samp has been assistant police chief since 2009. He takes over as chief from Troy Lane, who has resigned to become police chief at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.
Samp begins his new job June 16.
Samp has been with the UW Police Department since 1997. As chief, he will supervise the police department's 14 sworn officers and 10 support personnel.
Inmate escapes from boot camp
NEWCASTLE -- The Wyoming Department of Corrections says an inmate has escaped from the Wyoming Honor Conservation Camp in Newcastle.
The escaped inmate is identified as 24-year-old James Friesen.
He's described as 5 feet, 10 inches tall and about 160 pounds. He is a Caucasian male with brown hair and hazel eyes.
Witnesses last saw Friesen leaving the facility headed south.
Authorities warn anybody who might see Friesen not to approach him. Instead, they should call (307) 746-4486.
Friesen was sentenced in 2011 to three to five years for forgery.
Yellowstone fall victim identified
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK -- The National Park Service says an 18-year-old woman who died after a 400-foot fall into the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone was from Russia.
Yellowstone National Park officials identified the woman Monday as Maria "Masha" Sergeyevna Rumyantseva of Kaliningrad.
She was hiking with three friends near Inspiration Point last Thursday when she ventured off trail onto a rock ledge. The ledge broke loose beneath her.
Park rangers using a helicopter recovered her body.
Rumyantseva was a concession employee and it was her first day in Yellowstone. Park officials say the accident is being investigated.
Discovery slows street project
WORLAND -- An archaeological discovery temporarily halted a road construction job in Worland.
A dozen fire pits estimated to be 2,000 years old turned up during work on South 23rd Street in Worland in late May.
Kent Herren with the Wyoming Department of Transportation says the fire pits are no bigger than 3 feet wide. He says many of them still contain charcoal.
Archaeologists for the state arrived and spent five days examining the fire pits.
Website helps cut fire risks
LARAMIE -- The University of Wyoming has established a website that provides ways for landowners to reduce wildfire risks to houses, cabins and outbuildings.
The website address is http://barnyardsandback
yards.com .